Metal door frame assemblies, whether adjustable or not, are usually fabricated from sheet metal which is formed to provide one or more components defining inside and outside channels with one such channel formed to provide an integral door stop member. As is well known, that portion of the inside channel adjacent the stop member will serve either as the strike or hinge wall of the channel, depending upon which side of a door opening the respective frame assembly channels are mounted and whether the intended door will be a left-hand or right-hand opening door. Some frame assemblies are manufactured with more or less standard hinge and strike provisions. That is, one channel will be provided with a cutout forming the strike provision and which is adapted to receive the bolt of a door latch. Often, two tapped holes are included adjacent this hole for mounting of a strike plate having an opening aligning with the channel hole. Pre-defined hinge provisions are also common and wherein either two or three specifically spaced apart openings or recesses are provided in a channel, with or without tapped screw bores. These openings or recesses are frequently reinforced by backup plates, particularly when a metal door installation is involved.
In any of the above situations wherein hinge and strike provisions are already supplied, a user is confined to employing doors having hinges and latch/bolt devices precisely matching the size, location and spacing in agreement with the cooperating provisions on the door channels. If a customer decides to use a lighter weight two-hinge door and the contractor has already installed a frame assembly calling for three hinges, it will follow that expensive, disruptive work will be necessary to remove the installed frame assembly and replace it with another, of alternate configuration. Thus, the need will be seen to exist for a frame assembly permitting of ready alteration of the strike and hinge provision without requiring disassembly or modification of the remainder of an installed frame assembly. All the more flexibility will be provided when the foregoing feature is combined with the adjustability of the frame elements to accommodate walls of different thicknesses, along with replaceable door stop and trim cap members.